"He will be a great man one of these days, nurse," said the old surgeon quietly. "His heart is in his work, and he is having chances far beyond any that came to my lot when I was young. We have made such vast strides during the past five and twenty years. And now, my child, a word or two with you." "With me, Sir Denton?" said the nurse, with the blood flushing up at once into her pale cheeks. "Yes," he said, watching her keenly. "Proof positive. The colour flooded your face directly I spoke. You are as nervous as if you had been ill." "Oh, I am quite well, Sir Denton," she said hastily. "No, you are not, my child. You are over-strung. You have been working too hard, and you are on the point of breaking down. Your life is too valuable to us all here for your health to be trifled with." "Indeed, I--" "Know nothing about it," said the old man decisively. "I do, and I know that your heart is so much in your work that you would go on till you dropped. You must have change from the air of this place." "Really, Sir Denton, I am--" "Going to do exactly as I bid you, nurse; and I wish that you would look upon me as a very old friend, and not merely as a crotchety surgeon, who worries and bullies the nurses about his patients." "Indeed, you have always been most kind and considerate to me, Sir Denton." "Have I? I thought I was very inconsiderate sometimes, and found a great deal of fault." "You have just given me proof of the interest you take in me, Sir Denton." "Ah, well, we all try to do our best. Then, as your friend, I shall insist upon your taking a month." "A month, Sir Denton?" "Yes; it is quite necessary; and you, too, will come back like a lioness refreshed, ready to battle with our troubles here. Look, that woman wants you," he continued, nodding toward Maria's bed. "Don't spoil her too much. She's an ungrateful baggage. I've noticed her. Behaves to you as if you were her servant." "Oh, I do not mind," said the nurse, smiling. "That's right. Neither do I, for we've made a splendid cure of it, nurse. It's a perfect triumph for science. I shall have to read a paper upon her case at the Institution. Morning. I shall insist upon your going away soon." Sir Denton went out of the ward in a quick, energetic way, and Nurse Elisia crossed to Maria's bed. "Did you want me?" she said gently. "Yes, of course I did. It's too bad for you to stop away talking to the doctor so long." "Sir Denton was giving me instructions partly," said the nurse. "Yes, partly," said the woman maliciously. "Things go on at hospitals that wouldn't be allowed in a gentleman's house, I can tell you." The nurse's eyes flashed, but her voice was unchanged as she said quietly: "What did you wish me to do for you?" "Oh, you needn't turn it off. I'm not blind. I've seen and noticed a deal while I've been lying here. Isn't it time I had my meat jelly?"